Cooking

Historic farms and waterways crisscross Southern Delaware, connecting its residents to a set of rich culinary traditions. The original Nanticoke inhabitants baked hearty johnnycakes and hunted wild game. Hungry for a taste of home, German settlers developed scrapple from local ingredients. Today's home cooks and chefs draw their bounty from the land and sea for a distinct, seasonal cuisine. Summer strawberries and peaches from local farms and orchards become delectable preserves thanks to treasured family recipes. Come springtime, succulent blue crab reigns supreme. With recipes for regional favorites like beach plum jelly and chicken with slippery dumplings, author Denise Clemons explores the history behind the ingredients and savors the story in every dish.

While Delaware maintains one of the oldest beer-brewing traditions in the United States, its history has largely been lost or forgotten over the course of nearly four centuries. Beer was a main source of sustenance to Delaware's early European settlers, and its production eventually became one of the young colony's first industries. From its humble colonial beginnings, beer production grew to become one of the state's largest and most profitable industries. National Prohibition put a temporary end to the golden age of brewing in Delaware; however, the industry made a modest recovery after repeal. The state's two remaining breweries ultimately fell victim to larger, better funded regional and national concerns. There would be no brewing in Delaware for the next four decades. The remarkable popularity of craft beer in the 1990s fueled a brewing revival in the state, punctuated by Delaware's nationally recognized, award-winning breweries.

Boasting a brewing history older than the United States, Delaware packs an outsized punch in the craft beer scene with its landmark breweries and bold flavors. In 1873, the German lagers of Wilmington's Diamond State brewing rose to dominance. After Prohibition and the bust of the first craft beer bubble, entrepreneurial homebrewers resurrected the industry. Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head led the charge by rewriting the state's beer legislation, and the field opened to other brewpubs like Stewart's and Iron Hill to pair savory bites with their brews. By 2009, production breweries like 16 Mile and Fordham & Dominion were on the rise, changing the arc of Delaware beer. Beer writer Tony Russo tells a story of big risks and innovative brewers and proves that there has never been a better time to drink local.